Stormzy, Rory Kinnear and Arlo Parks are among the actors and artists who will feature in short films based on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist. The films, directed by Sasha Nathwani, aim to bring the shortlisted novels to life through readings.
Nathwani, whose debut feature Last Swim won the Crystal Bear at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, said he wanted to create an intimate space for the readings. Each performer was invited to draw out the emotion in their extract, as if telling a story just for the viewer.
The two-minute films will be released on 8 October and shown at the Booker Prize 2025 ceremony on 10 November. Last year’s shortlist films garnered over 83 million views, a figure the Booker Prize Foundation says has inspired many to read the books.
Stormzy will read from David Szalay’s Flesh, Kinnear from Ben Markovits’ The Rest Of Our Lives, and Arlo Parks from The Land In Winter. Other performers include Katherine Parkinson, Gabrielle Creevy and Shazad Latif, reading from works by Katie Kitamura, Susan Choi and Kiran Desai respectively.
The films are produced in partnership with Schedule Nine Productions. Previous editions featured Dua Lipa, Will Poulter and Jason Isaacs.
